MATH 473, FALL 2002 - PROBLEM SET 9

WARMUP PROBLEMS: Se tion 15.3: #1, 2, 4, 5.

OTHERS OF INTEREST: Se tion 15.3: #10, 12, 16, 22, 26, 28, 30, 31.
WRITTEN HOMEWORK: Do ve of the six problems below. Due Wed., De . 18.
1. Union and Interse tion.
a) Give a short dire t proof of the weak duality portion of the Matroid Union The-
P
orem. That is, given matroids M1 ; : : : ; Mk on E , a set X  E , and a set I  X that is
independent in M1 [


[ Mk , prove that jI j  jX Y j + ki=1 ri (Y ). (Hint: Draw a
pi ture.)
b) Without using the Matroid Interse tion Theorem, prove that the maximum
size of a ommon independent set in matroids M1 and M2 dened on a set E equals
rM1 [M  (E ) rM  (E ).
2 2
) Obtain the Matroid Interse tion Theorem by applying the Matroid Union Theorem
to M1 [ M2 .
2. Let M be a matroid dened on a set E . For F  E , prove that M:F = M jF if and
only if F is a union of omponents of M . (Hint: Consider Proposition 15.3.7.)
3. Prove that if M is a onne ted matroid on E and e 2 E , then M e or M
e is
onne ted.
4. Prove that the y le matroid of the graph on the left below is a transversal matroid.
Prove that the y le matroid of the graph on the right is not a transversal matroid but is
a gammoid.
  

   

5. Let M be a matroid.
a) Prove that if C is a ir uit in M
e, then C or C + e is a ir uit in M .
b) Prove that for any ir uit C and o ir uit C  in a minor of M , there exist a ir uit
D and o ir uit D in M su h that D \ D = C \ C .
  
) Use part (b) and Theorems 15.3.36 and 15.3.39 to prove that a matroid is binary
if and only if no ir uit and o ir uit share exa tly three elements.
6. A matroid is bipartite if its ir uits all have even size. A matroid is Eulerian if its set
of elements an be partitioned into pairwise disjoint ir uits. Prove that a binary matroid
is Eulerian if and only if its dual is bipartite. (Comment: Euler proved this for the spe ial
ase of y le matroids of plane graphs. The statement does not hold for general matroids.)